TODAY'S PERSONAL FINANCE STORIES

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CBS.MarketWatch.com

Chicken McNuggets will now be all white meat. This is by no means the biggest news of the day, but it does have significance beyond the little bit of assuaging of guilt for millions of parents who succumb to the demands for a Happy Meal.

McDonald's will still bread and fry those nuggets, of course, so you shouldn't be completely bowled over by the "improved nutrition profile" of the reconfigured product that is the staple of many kids' meals procured on the fly.

But even small steps can be advantageous when you add them all up: There will be a whole lot less fat and calories sinking into our children. Perhaps it is through increments like that that America will eventually return to a more healthful lifestyle, something new statistics say is happening, albeit slowly.

Read the latest on the state of U.S. health and find out just what the new McNuggets offer in the way of nutritional benefits, plus learn how Baby Boomers might not be in line to inherit all the money they might have hoped for, all on today's Personal Finance pages.

Fitness generally does require some sacrifice. But as long as we can slather on the BBQ dipping sauce, we won't feel a thing.

Steve Kerch, personal finance editor

Minnesota, New Hampshire rank best in health survey

States in the Northeast and Midwest enjoy the broadest measure of good health while states in the South and Southwest lag behind, according to two new studies. See full story

McDonald's to use all white chicken meat in McNuggets

After 20 years, McDonald's is changing its Chicken McNuggets formula from an amalgam of dark and white meat to what it calls an "improved nutrition profile" of only white meat. See full story

Big inheritance a myth for many Boomers, study finds

It's been called the largest intergenerational wealth transfer in history, but not many Baby Boomers are likely to experience it. Some $10 trillion will be inherited over the next 40 years or so, averaging about $90,000 per person, according to estimates. But if you're wondering who's doing all that inheriting, you're not alone. See Retirement Living

October CPI unchanged

Flattened by a big drop in energy prices, prices for consumer goods were unchanged in October after they rose 0.3 percent in the prior month, the Labor Department said Tuesday. The so-called core rate of inflation, which excludes volatile food and energy prices, rose 0.2 percent in October following a 0.1 percent increase the prior month. See Economic Report

AARP backs Medicare drug compromise

The nation's largest seniors group on Monday backed a legislative compromise that would add a prescription-drug benefit to Medicare, boosting the odds of passage for a fragile deal that faces potential resistance from the left and the right. See full story

Medicare deal: sorting winners and losers

A tentative compromise on legislation adding a prescription drug benefit to Medicare could be a spoonful of sugar for drug companies, but a bitter pill for some sectors of the health-care industry, analysts said. Passage isn't a sure thing. Elements of the bill dealing with private competition, health savings accounts and other hot-button issues are likely to result in close votes in the House and Senate as Republican leaders press to complete work on the bill by an ambitious Friday deadline. See full story

Mutual-fund hearings set on Capitol Hill

With growing scandals tarnishing the mutual fund industry, top regulators will face a grilling from lawmakers this week on their efforts thus far to police the matter and crack down on the industry. See full story

California pension giant boots Putnam

The California Public Employees' Retirement System said Monday it would pull the $1.2 billion it has under management with Putnam Investments, becoming the latest public pension fund to abandon the scandal-tainted Boston fund giant. See full story

Morgan Stanley to pay $50 million fine for fund violations

Morgan Stanley agreed Monday to pay a $50 million civil penalty to settle Securities and Exchange Commission charges of mutual-fund improprieties, as regulators levied the harshest fine yet against a company implicated in the unfolding fund-industry scandal. Separately, investment firms Charles Schwab
SC.H, +0.00%
and Alliance Capital Management Holding
AC, -0.30%
detailed abuses in their own fund operations. See full story

Odds point to up year for S&P

Barring some unforeseen circumstance over the next month and a half, the Standard & Poor's 500 Index should end the year in positive territory. Based on our analysis of both reported and expected earnings we are projecting the S&P 500
SPX, -1.54%
to end the year at 1,070, up roughly 2 percent from its current level. See The Guru's Corner

Investment letters try the hard sell

Is the bubble bursting? One possible sign: hysterically hard-selling investment letter promotions. "Even at the crest of the great market mania of 1999-2000, I did not see as many slick promotions as I'm seeing today," Charles Allmon of Growth Stock Outlook grumped recently. See Peter Brimelow

Financial demands of retirement

Are you and your spouse age 65 or older? Chances are that one of you is going to live a long time. Many experts have warned about the impending retirement of the massive Baby Boom generation. But unless millions of Americans make better financial choices, they will be unable to support themselves comfortably through retirement. See Marshall Loeb's Daily Money Tip

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